


Catch Me When I Fall

by navaan



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Banter, Damsels in Distress Scenarios, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 19:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4404353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you fall, it's important that someone you trust will be there to catch you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catch Me When I Fall

**Author's Note:**

> You can also read and comment on Livejournal [here](http://navaan.livejournal.com/210161.html).

He loses his hold and is in freefall so fast that he can't breath. The huge alien city turned spacecraft hovering over Gotham becomes the least of his concerns for the moment. His cape is flapping around him and he tries to keep his wits together, calculates speed and options, reaches for his belt... But before he has made any kind of real plan, arms encircle him from behind; he is caught; they are falling together, slowing down, stopping in mid air.

“Clark,” he says, dryly, finally catching his breath.

“ _Now_ you remember my name,” Superman says with a raised eyebrow. He's being teased for nearly falling to his death without crying his lover’s name, apparently. He can’t say he’s surprised.

“I had a plan,” he says and rolls his eyes, mostly because he knows Clark can’t see it from where he’s pressed against his back. 

“Of course you did. And we can't have Batman crying out for Superman to come and save his life. Your image would take a hit. I get it. Do you want me to just let you go and get on with this on your own or would you prefer a lift back up to that?” Clark indicates the gigantic spacecraft hovering above them.

“Up,” he says, grimly and looks at him, meeting his eyes. Clark is right. There are more important things to think about at the moment than Batman’s reputation. “And thanks.”

Clark smiles and his face becomes much softer than it usually is when he's Superman. Maybe just for seeing this Bruce will live with the indignity of it all without grumbling. _Mostly_ without grumbling, that is.

* * *

He loves flying. It's probably the one of his powers setting him apart from humanity that he would never want to give up for anything. It's freedom and lightness. It's comfort. It's the kind of loneliness he sometimes cherishes. It's easy to forget how far up you are when you do it every day, soar into the sky like it’s nothing.

Falling on the other hand is not something he is used to anymore.

It happens to him, too, of course. Opponents have a way of finding ways to make him fall, to hit him hard enough to make him crash in an instant.

But this time it's Kryptonite and that’s always different. Intergang thugs found a way to use it on him in gaseous form and he breathed it in mid flight. He can feel it work through his lungs, his blood; his whole body aches. And there is no time, not strength left, to just get rid of it, to fly up and purge himself with the help of the sun's life giving power before the Kryptonite saps all his energy.

He's falling.

Falling.

Slowly losing himself to the pain and the rush and the knowledge that there's going to be an impact, he closes his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. Rushing sound of wind and machines and people, all bleeding into one as his hearing is affected. There’s a swishing sound as something that feels like ropes snakes around his body with a zap. His eyes open again, before two familiar kevlar gauntlets settle on his arm and then catch him around his torso. Batman is grinning and he knows that alone should make him weary. Bruce doesn’t grin when he’s in costume. Maliciously maybe, when he takes down criminals.

The kevlar ropes are grappling lines connected to the hovering batplane that is a dark shape somewhere above both of them. Batman is gliding with his own makeshift wings of the hang glider today. “Had to slow you down before catching you. Wasn’t keen on making us both look bad by miscalculating.”

Clark feels incredibly tired, the Kryptonite much more dangerous to him than the fall. He’s still glad he’s up here held safely against a familiar form and will be spared the crash, the destruction caused around him, the pain and injury that only Kryptonite makes possible. “Thank you,” he whispers before closing his eyes again.

“Thank me, when you’re feeling better,” Bruce whispers. “I have a plan.”

“Of course you do,” he says and even in his tired, trodden down state he has to chuckle. Then he passes out.

He wakes up in a soft bed in the Watchtower’s medical facilities. He doesn’t often have the dubious pleasure and it takes a moment for him to realize where he is.

Bruce is sitting on a comfortable chair beside his bed and is staring at him intently, watching him come awake and orient himself. He’s hunched slightly forward, mask pulled back and hair messy, his hands folded in front of his chin. 

“Thank you for saving me.”

“You would have done the same for me,” Bruce says roughly, the only testament to how worried he must have been. “And I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t. Next time, call my name, Clark,” Bruce says with a serious face and the voice of a man who is used to be listened to.

He grins, feeling much better already. Whatever Bruce’s plan had been, he’d made sure to purge him of the Kryptonite. “You told me specifically not to call you Bruce when you wear the mask,” he reminds him and winks.

Bruce’s expression doesn’t change, but he leans back into his chair, arms folding in front of his chest, considering him. “So we’re at an impasse again.” He sighs dramatically and it’s so unlike Batman that Clark has to laugh.

“I’ll call for Batman, if you call for Superman,” he said.

“Deal,” Bruce says. “Now get some rest.”

Obviously Bruce thinks he’s figured this out. Clark grins and closes his eyes. He knows the agreement came about too easily - Batman will not just call for help. But it’s the thought that counts. “You do realize that I’m altogether more _unbreakable_ than you are, right?”

He isn’t surprised to _hear_ the smirk in Bruce’s voice as he says: “Debatable.”

He’s not going to argue with that today. Instead he sits up and leans forward, Bruce meets him halfway and they kiss. It’s sweet and short and just what they need after the day they’ve had.

Clark feels his heart beating fast, happy to be alive, happy that Bruce was there when he needed someone to be there. “Saving each other is not a competition,” he reminds his lover.

“Debatable,” Bruce shoots back.

He laughs. He’s not going to argue with that either.


End file.
